


Love Story of the Century

by Calcu22



Category: Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/F, Female Bucky Barnes, Female Steve Rogers, Lesbian Stucky AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:34:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25277782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calcu22/pseuds/Calcu22
Summary: Everyone knows the story of Captain America. How she joined the war in order to be with her boyfriend James "Bucky" Barnes, who tragically died before they could get married.At least, that's what everyone is taught in school after Steve Rogers crashed the Valkyrie and the truth about Captain America was revealed.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 4
Kudos: 44





	Love Story of the Century

She had been known as Bucky even since meeting Stephaine Rogers on the playground. The tiny blonde girl somehow managed to get in a physical fight with some of the boys, and Bucky - then known more commonly as Jessie - wasted no time before getting in the middle of it. It ended with the blonde girl biting one of them, and Jessie punching one right in the eye.

“So, you have a name or anything?” Jessie was only slightly out of breath and nowhere near as bad as the other girl was.

“Stephanie...Rogers...how...about...you,” she asked between breaths.

“Jessie Buchanan Barnes,” she profoundly announced.

Her mom explained that Buchanan was her last name before getting married, and that Jessie will have to change her name when she got married as well. Jessie thought that was stupid though. Why change your name?

Three weeks later Stevie started calling her Bucky, but somehow that change in name was fine.

Stevie was only a year younger, but there were a few times they shared a classroom. Each time was hell for their teacher, but fun for them. Stevie wanted to be an artist, and Bucky wondered if there was some way she could get enough money so Stevie could have whatever art she wanted.

When they were 17, and 16 respectively, Stevie announced that she never had a kiss and was worried about biting a fella’s tongue off by accident. 

“You’re not going to bite this imaginary boyfriend of yours’ tongue off.”

“But what if I do? You said they sometimes stick it in there.”

“You could just tell him you don’t like that, and then if he still does it really bite off his tongue,” Bucky said, and Stevie just glared at her. “Why are you bringing this up anyways? Thought you said there wasn’t any guy that you liked.”

“I don’t. I was just wondering what it would be like.”

Bucky looked at Stevie, who was chewing her lip. 

“I could show you,” she said carefully, fully prepared to make a joke out of it.

“What?”

“I could show you how a kiss works. If you want. I’ve done it enough times,” Bucky said, even though she’s only done it twice.

Not a lot of the guys like her since she’s not pretty and dainty like Stevie is. Bucky helps out at her dad’s workplace too much, and has the muscles to show. Useful for when Stevie gets in a fight, but not so much when she wants the guys to look at her. Sometimes the other dames will look, when they don’t know Bucky is a girl, and that...well...

“Okay, sure. Let’s try it.”

Bucky finished off the bottle she stole from her parents to share with Stevie. There wasn’t a lot left to begin with, but Stevie had a cute blush on her face from the glass that she drank.

“Promise me you won’t bite off my tongue then,” Bucky said as she leaned in.

It was just a simple kiss. Just a light touch of their lips before Bucky leaned back and looked at Stevie. Her eyes were closed and Stevie gave a slight hum like she just had some ice cream on a hot day. Bucky was just getting ready to ask how that was, when Stevie leaned forward and they were kissing again.

And again.

And soon it was getting late and Bucky needed to get home before her parents started to worry. 

They didn’t talk about it was first. It was just something they did when alone. Bucky was pretty sure Stevie had told her mom about them, because one day Sarah told her to make sure nothing happens to Stevie. 

Like she needed anyone to tell her that.

Then Bucky graduated school, and her dad died. Suddenly Winnifred had to get enough money to support her four daughters and Bucky needed to do something. She started working at jobs like sewing in factory, but the pay was not worth it. 

“So what are you going to do?” Stevie asked when Bucky told her she needed a better job.

“I don’t know. I’m not good enough to be a nurse. I could help out at the docks, but they don’t let girls do that stuff,” Bucky said, and that was the real problem.

The jobs that she could do weren’t jobs that women can do.

“That’s stupid. Why would they care what’s under your clothes?”

“I bet I could pass as a guy if I cut my hair. Just need a tight undershirt and wear a few more layers, and no one would be the wiser,” Bucky said, thinking back all the times the guys in school would try making her cry by asking if she was really a man.

“You’re going to cut your hair?” Stevie sounded a little sad as she asked. 

“Maybe, tell me this isn’t the worst idea I’ve had. I would have so many more options for my family if everyone thought I was a guy.”

“It’s not the worst idea you’ve had,” Stevie agreed, getting her head off Bucky’s stomach to really look at her, “Want me to cut it now?”

They ended up in the bathroom, Sarah not yet back from the hospital due to some TB outbreak going on, with Bucky sitting on the toilet to give Stevie enough room to work.

Her brown hair was usually braided, and she only noticed how long it was when it was completely down. It went all the way down to her torso and was a little curly at the ends.

“You sure about this?”

“Hack away, Stevie.”

Bucky watched at her hair started falling around her, and Stevie started getting bolder with her cuts. Soon enough, Stevie took a step back at looked at Bucky.

“So, how do I look?”

Stevie licked her lips, eyes darting between Bucky’s head and her eyes.

“Still better than any of the guys at school,” Stevie said with a smug smile that Bucky couldn’t resist kissing.

It was sad they couldn’t do this all the time. Only behind closed doors and dark rooftops. Though, if people thought Bucky was a guy...

“You know, if I put on one of my dad’s suits I would take you on a date. Like a real date,” Bucky said before they could get too far, thoughts running through everything she could do as a ‘he’.

“You’re really going through with this? Not going to be pretty if you get caught,” Stevie said, running her hand through Bucky’s freshly cut hair.

“Wasn’t going to be pretty watching my sister slowly starve either. No one is going to find out, and we might as well have fun with it.”

Stevie gave a nod, looking very serious and - no doubt - trying to figure out how to help. That was always something Bucky loved about Stevie. Always trying to help others.

“It will be fine,” Bucky promised with a kiss, and for the most part it was.

While Stevie finished her last year of school, already making plans to go to art school afterwards, Bucky worked. She always made sure to look for places that won’t look too much, that don’t care what she looked like as long as the job gets done.

Turns out it was all too easy for people to assume Bucky was a boy. She was already 5’7”, having hit a late growth spurt when she was 16, and what was tall for a girl was suddenly average for a guy. Shoulders that were too broad to be pretty on Bucky the Dame were now handsome for Bucky the Fella.

The best part, however, was that now Bucky could get guy to back off from flirty with Stevie. 

“You don’t need to swoop in like a knight every time,” Stevie complained, but didn’t move from under the arm Bucky threw over her shoulder.

“You also don’t need to physically fight every guy who looked at you wrong. At least wait for me before starting so I don’t have to explain why you broke your nose again to your mom. She has enough to worry about,” Bucky said, and then cursed herself from the way Stevie’s face fell.

Sarah had to quarantine herself after testing positive for TB. Stevie wasn’t even allowed to visit on count of all her health problems, so it’s been a hard month.

“Come on, it will be fine. Isn’t she always the one telling you not to give up without a fight? Sarah will be back to making disappointed faces at your cooking before you know it.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Stevie said, giving Bucky a smile even though it was clear she didn’t believe her.

Sarah died three days later. It took even longer before Stevie could get the body back, and Bucky spent most of the funeral thinking how it’s just Stevie now. At least when her dad died, Bucky had her mom, sisters, and all their aunts, uncles, and cousins who live in Illinois. Stevie had herself, the gravediggers, and Bucky’s immediate family. 

Stevie disappeared before Bucky could get her into the car with them, going back to her house alone.

Bucky had talked about it to her mom before about the idea of moving out before getting married. Bucky never told her mom that the only person she would want to marry was Stevie, but Bucky wasn’t sure if she would care. After Bucky’s dad passed it was like Winnifred was a shadow of her former self. It didn’t help that Winnifred was also working herself to the bone, still making less than Bucky now that she was a guy in the eyes of the world.

The only reason why Bucky didn’t move in with Stevie before was that she didn’t want to leave her sister alone. But now Bucky doesn’t want to leave Stevie alone.

In the end, Bucky convinced Stevie it was a good idea.

“I’m with you until the end of the line,” she said, giving Stevie the spare key.

It wasn’t easy. Bucky always thought moving in with Stevie would be a dream come true, but turned out Stevie was an awful roommate. She snored, didn’t clean up, still couldn’t cook, and Bucky was so in love.

There was also the problem of people realizing that Stevie was living with Bucky, who in the eyes of the world was a man. An unwed man living with an unwed woman. 

“Didn’t think your girl was that kind of dame Barnes,” some guy that Bucky worked with mentioned after seeing the two of them out on a date.

“What kind of dame?”

“You know, willing to live with ya’ before marriage.”

“Well, her mom died and she didn’t have anyone else,” Bucky said before moving to work somewhere else.

But Bucky kept thinking about it.

“Think if we could fool a priest long enough to get us married?” Bucky asked one day, trying to say still while Stevie drew her. 

“What? You want to get married?”

Bucky wanted to look over at Stevie, but was given a stink eye for trying to move.

“I was just thinking it might be easier. People are questioning why you’re living with a guy who you’re not married to.”

“So? It’s one thing to lie to your boss about your gender, but it’s another to lie to god.”

“What, you want to find a blind priest who won’t notice both of us wearing dresses?”

“Maybe,” Stevie said, tongue sticking out as she drew.

“Fine. I’ll keep an eye out for that.”

Bucky didn’t bring it up again. It was a dumb idea anyways since you need documentation to get married. Bucky just made sure not to mention that she lives with her girlfriend, which solved most of the problems.

Stevie was able to save up enough to go to art school by 1940, and they had been living together for almost four years. Bucky had been known as a fella for five, and one of her sisters, Elizabeth, decided to become an actress. Like with Bucky, Winnifred made all the girls graduate school, but after that they could do whatever. 

“Beth really going to try moving to LA?” Stevie asked when she told her.

“I guess. Beth can sing at the very least, and good enough at lying that she might be a decent actress.”

“By that logic, you could also be an actress, Buck.”

Bucky laughed at that idea. “Are you serious? Think I could also be a model since I do it for you so often?”

“You could, but I like you better being my personal model.”

“Oh really?” Bucky said, leaning forward to give Stevie a kiss.

But Stevie moved, and instead, Bucky was suddenly looking at her artbook.

“This me?” Bucky asked, though it was obvious who it was.

It was Bucky, but back when she had long hair wearing a dress that Bucky gave to Becca a long time ago, standing next to how Bucky looks now. 

“Yeah, I was trying to figure out if I miss your long hair.”

“Do you?”

“I think I just like whatever your hair looks like,” Stevie said honestly, and Bucky laughed.

“That’s so cheesy.”

“I’m serious,” Stevie pouted, though it didn’t last long when Bucky leaned over to kiss her like she wanted to do earlier.

“Thanks Stevie, I’m very glad you think I’m hot with long or short hair.”

Before Bucky knew it, they have been living together for almost six years. Beth ended up moving to LA, and Isabelle had gotten married and moved out of the state. Becca was doing great in school, and for once everything was going well.

The war was getting worse, and Bucky was starting to get weird looks for being a ‘healthy male’ and not enlisting, but Stevie hasn’t been majorly sick in years and it felt like nothing would go wrong.

Then Winnifred died during the winter. Becca was the one who found her body and Bucky and Stevie were the only ones who went to the funeral. Beth didn’t have the cash and Belle said her husband didn’t want to make the trip. 

“Stevie, you know how you keep talking about how dumb it is that women can’t serve? That they can only be nurses?” Bucky began.

She had way too much to drink, and Stevie was the only reason she wasn’t passed out flat on her face.

“Yeah?”

“The pay isn’t too bad. If I pay off a doctor I could slip in, then Beth and Becca don’t have to worry.”

“Bucky that’s...” Stevie started before looking very serious. “I want to try as well.”

Bucky snorted, but her pillow punched her in the arm.

“What, you don’t think I could do it? I could pretend to be a guy just as easily as you.”

“Sure you can.”

“I’m not joking Bucky. I’ve been thinking about this for a while but... well, if you’re going there is no way I’m not going too.”

Bucky didn’t laugh again, since because Stevie got like this it was like the earth itself would move for her. 

“I think paying off a doctor to not tell everyone you’re a girl is different from paying a doctor off to let someone with all your issues in.”

“What issues?”

“You serious Stevie? Your spine is all bent, you can’t breathe after running too long, you are prone to sickness, you-”

“Alright, alright, I get it. I’ll have to be smart about this. Maybe get a job as a code cracker?”

“You hate numbers. You made me do all your math homework in school.”

“I could be a soldier, Bucky. I know how to fight.”

“You know how to throw a punch, since I showed you after my dad taught me because you kept getting into fights. That’s very different from being in a war, Stevie.”

“I know it’s different, but what the Nazis are doing... that’s just not right Bucky. I need to help,” Stevie pleaded, and Bucky couldn’t take this anymore.

The idea of Stevie being on a battlefield made her sick.

“I’m way too drunk for this,” Bucky said before getting up and going to their bedroom.

It was hours before Stevie came back, and they didn’t talk about it until Bucky got her letter and shipped off to basics.


End file.
